Blood is Thicker Than Water
by RedToast
Summary: Blood is thick, but water runs deep. Au High School. A story of how Sakura and Pein rebuild their sibling bonds, while fighting against the pressures and expectations of parents, friends and school. Who said popularity didn't come at a price?
1. Aniki

**Every character you see is a real Naruto character, so search them up if you want to get a better idea of what they look like. **

**Hi guys, hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm trying very hard to not make this a typical high school fic where sakura becomes super popular and everyone loves her. Most high school fics that I've read, when Sakura enters the homeroom all the naruto characters are there and in a short space of time they become best friends for life, and have sleepovers, then she meets the Akatsuki and they all love her and blah blah blah. I want mine to be a lot more realistic, and a storyline with real plot.**

**Usually characters like Ino, Karin and Ami are demonized and shown to be bitches ect, and in my story I don't want to do that. why? because I, personally, dont like it when a writer's feelings towards a character are so overwhelming that it gets in the way of the story. and I know some people who like Ino or Karin or whoever, won't like it if their favourite characters are bashed for literally no reason, every single chapter. Overall I want you to read the story and be like, "Yeah, I can REALISTICALLY see that happening in a school" obviously there will be drama but I try not to make it over the top.**

**I'd also like to point out that all their parents have _proper_ jobs, so no-ones father owns a multimillion company that happens to be the best in the whole of japan.**

**If you look at the genre for this story it says family and romance. The family is Pein and Sakura and how they try to fix their family ties and relationship. The romance is just what happens in between eg. sakura developing a crush on certain boy and pein realizing that he's falling in love with Konan. Pein and Sakura are the focus of this story, but we will gain insight into everyone's life. there will be lemons between Konan and Pein. Sakura will have some too so be patient.**

**hope you enjoy the story :)**

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The members of the Akatsuki, the school gang, relaxed in front of the car park at the beginning of the school day. Many students came in especially early just to see them drive in with their good looking cars, which they guessed probably cost a hefty amount. The consisted of nine members. Nine _good looking _members. Sitting on top of his matte black SUV was Deidara Namikaze. He had long blonde hair that reached the middle of his back and had the top part tied up. A mischievous grin adorned his face that caused his sky blue eyes to light up, to his left was a redhead name Sasori. Sasori's hair framed his face lovingly and the colour complemented his greyish brown eyes. In the other car space was parked a red vehicle and like Deidara and Sasori, the other members, Itachi, Konan, Kakuzu, Zetsu, Hidan and Kisame they also stood near the car and leaned on it. Each member wore their own clothes but all had on a black hoodie or jumper which was patterned with red clouds. On their fingers was a ring that held different colours and words. Konan looked around, a frown evident on her face.

"Where's Pein?" He was the leader and founder of the gang. He had bright orange hair and multiple face piercings. The man looked intimidating and this made a lot of people scared of him. The other members already realized that he wasn't there but said nothing. He was a man that they didn't question as he always knew what he was doing. But today was strange, every morning he was always there with them, and they always chilled before lesson started. Deidara shrugged and offered to call him which everyone agreed to. Just as the blonde pulled out his phone Pein car drove through the car park, but he didn't get out where he _normally _did. Today he parked his car close to the school entrance. All of the members had a curious expression of their face, which turned to surprise and disbelief when a young girl, maybe a year or two younger than them, stepped out of the passenger seat. She had pink hair and a snakebite piecing under her lips.

Cool green eyes surveyed the landscape before her, they took in all the students staring at her curiously. Some just looked downright hostile. Turning her head to the orange head man in front of her, she waited for him to either lead her to the office to get her schedule or leave her to fend for herself. Pein looked stressed out and tense, his shoulder were stiff and his eyes were colder than usual. He spared a glance to his friends before walking around the car, putting and arm around his sister's shoulders and walking her to the office. If the car park was quiet before, it was definitely silent now. This silence didn't last long as the students who openly gawked at them began to murmur to their friends asking who the pink hair girl was, if Pein was still with Konan amongst other trivial things. Behind them a purple hair girl looked crestfallen and the other members of the gang weren't quite sure what to say or do. They knew the two had problems in their relationship and Pein was acting odd for the last couple of weeks, but _this _was out of the blue and completely unexpected.

As the two of them walked into the school Sakura took more notice of them people staring at her, some stopped what they were doing just to look at them with the same level of curiosity everyone else had. The feeling of insecurity bubbled within her and she tried to shrink back on herself, Pein took notice and squeezed her shoulders comfortingly, "No one can hurt you while I'm here, imōto" was whispered into her ear with the aim of reassuring her. When they reached the office her held the door open for her, and gestured for his sister to enter, which she did hesitantly. Pein understood her emotions, her she was in a new country, new school, no friends and only her older brother that she resented for most of her life. Pein wanted to make things right between them by clearing up the misunderstandings that had wedged them apart in the first place and showing that she could trust him like a sister could depend on her older brother.

The room was spacious and stylish for the most part, there were two brown mahogany desks with computers with paper work stacked on top of each other one was two the left in the middle of the room while the second desk was at the back of the room to the right. At the opposite end of the room was a water dispenser with white chair next to it. The walls were decorated pastel green which created a soothing atmosphere within the office. There was only one woman at the desk she had long dark blue hair. There was a nameplate on the surface which identified her as '_Tsunami_'. Her eyes were kind as she looked at Sakura, "You must be the new student, let me print out your schedule, dear", after typing a few things on her computer she moved to the other side of the room that had an A4 Tray Duplex Network Colour Laser Printer. Quickly grabbing the paper the woman handed it to Sakura and went back to her desk to presumably continue her work.

Outside of the office, Pein looked over the piece of paper and handed it back to her, he watched Sakura analyse it before frowning and biting her lip, although he would never admit it, he _liked _ having his sister depend on him. This was the way it was meant to be, before he could think anymore he once again put his arms around her shoulders and led her back outside, "Let me introduce you to my friends, ok?" she nodded plainly and followed him. Once again Sakura's eyes were drawn to the students who kept staring but this time she decided to ignore them. When they were outside Pein walked them over to a group of people, as she looked at their clothes her eyes instinctively darted towards her brother. _He's wearing the same design as them_.

The remaining Akatsuki members looked over to their approaching figures and all greeted Pein as he neared them. Noticeably Konan had kept quiet and pointedly stared at the ground, suddenly finding it every interesting. Pein looked at her and a slight frown adorned his face, causing Kisame and Deidara to feel anxious over what was going to happen. All the while Sakura analysed the situation in front of her, and schooled her face to one of indifference. Pein cleared his throat before speaking, "This is my sister Sakura," their eyes widened in disbelief, even Konan's head shot up to look at him and then her, "She moved from Amegakure and lives here now." There was a tone of finality in his voice which told the others that questions could be saved for later.

"Nice to meet you Sakura." Itachi, polite as ever, held his hand out for her to shake. She looked at him for a moment before reaching out to grab it. Then all the others greeted her warmly and some even enthusiastically, except for the girl with purple hair who just had her eyes narrowed at Pein. He matched her stare with a cold look, this made her turn around and leave. Her absence caused a wave of awkwardness to fill the air and had Deidara clearing his throat in obvious discomfort. When it was time to get to homeroom the others left and her brother walked her to class.

"Who was that girl?" Sakura inquired, Pein sighed before answering.

"My girlfriend."

"She seems mad at you."

Pein shot her a warning glance and she gave him an innocent look in return, pretending that she hadn't tried to annoy him with her obvious statement. As they reached a door Pein turned to look at her. Holding one of her hands he spoke to her softly, "I know things haven't been good between us for a long time. But we have a chance to make things like they used to, and I can't do this on my own. If…_when _mom gets out of hospital it's gonna be us four again. Just like it used to be. We can catch up on the stuff we never got to do, we can be a _family_ again. _Okay_? And this time, I promise I won't leave you. _No matter what_." Overwhelmed Sakura pulled him into a tight hug. He then took off his hoodie and handed it over for Sakura to wear, she looked at him questioningly but complied none the less. A light smile braced his face when he was that it was too big for her and she had to roll the arms up multiple times Pein ruffled her hair and chuckled slightly. So with a small, but joyful pout, Sakura turned and walked in to the class.

Pein watched her go with a warm feeling in his heart. The warm feeling turned to exasperation when he thought of Konan. The gang leader turned to go to his own homeroom, while devising a way to find out why she was angry at him. He didn't know what had happened for him to be on the receiving end of her anger. Yes, they had an argument but it was nothing major for her to storm off as she did. It was also _very _out of character. She was normally quiet and reserved, never angry and impatient. Walking around a corner he entered his class, spotted his girlfriend and immediately went to sit with her. As he walked up the steps he couldn't help but notice that a few more eyes were looking his way. Pein shrugged it off and linked his hands with Konan as soon as he sat next to her. She met his eyes slowly, with a little bit of apprehension within them before looking down slowly. _Now _it was obvious she was upset.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a sister? I thought we told each other _everything_." Konan mumbled this to him but he could still pick up the traces of irritation on her tongue. "You don't know what I felt when I saw you with her… I thought you left me…" Realization dawned on him and he squeezed her hand in apology.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you but I was sure I'd never see her again so I never mentioned it. I'll tell you everything at lunch. I promise" She nodded in compliance, their fingers still linked.

Meanwhile, as soon as Sakura entered, the class grew deathly silent with all of them watching her with an unabashed type of inquisitive gaze. Feeling rather fed up, she glared at them while taking a seat in the back by herself. The sudden lack of friends that she was faced with caused a deep loneliness to wedge itself into her stomach. No one approached her. No one spoke to her. At this moment Sakura realized that she was no longer in Amegakure surrounded by all her friends but in a very cold and isolated area named Konohagakure. Not really knowing what else to do, pick took her phone from her pocket and texted her brother. Right now, he was her _only _friend. Her only companion.

_To Pein_

_This class is lonely… I miss home. Don't like it here.  
Sakura._

She sent the message and scanned the class while waiting for his reply. The students were no longer looking at her, but decided to gossip instead. Gossip _loudly. _

'_Just who exactly does she think she is? Walking in here like she owns the fucking place, god I hate girls like that, 'I know right? Plus how did she get that hoodie? I'm thinking typical S-L-U-T', 'I bet she's with Hidan, he's usually got a new girl every couple of weeks, right?' _Sakura's heart burned with misery as she listened, it was starting to get harder to breath.

_To Sakura _

_Why? What's happening?  
Pein._

Looking at the message her hands typed furiously,

_To Pein _

_I just walked in… and people are already calling me a slut. I haven't even said a word yet. You didn't tell me it was going to be like this. You said I'd enjoy it here…  
Sakura._

Before the pink hair girl could sigh, the door swung open revealing Pein. On his face was a murderous expression, forcing the class to go silent again. In fluid steps his walked to the back of the class and sat next to her. Pein eyed his sister and could tell she was trying not to cry. Now, he _knew _Sakura wasn't a cry baby, she wasn't overly emotional, but the past couple of months had worn her down substantially and she was more than ready to burst. Talking a calling breath he asked her once, "Who called you a slut." This was loud enough for the whole class to hear, and the offender to an unsteady gulp to hide her fear, and tried to sink into her seat. All was in vail as Sakura nodded toward her direction without hesitation or fear over what her brother might to do to the girl. Pein stood, tall and menacingly. He strode over to the girl, "What did you call my little sister." All the students looked nervously at each other, none daring to end the confrontation.

"I won't ask you again."

"I-I-I c-called her a…slut. B-but I didn't mean it! I never knew she was your sister, I thought she was just some whore because… b-because…because…"

"_Because what_?" Pein spoke low, yet loud enough to be heard by everyone, "I don't think anyone, especially _you, _has the _right _to call _anyone _a slut. You think I forgot. You're the girl who sucked Deidara off in the _boy's toilets_ oh yeah _and _on that art trip two weeks ago. Apologize. _Now." _There was no room for argument as the girl turned around to stutter a pathetic apology before fleeing the class in a heap of tears.

He gave a chilling glare to the class before nodding to Sakura who smiled in thanks. Once her brother had left, the class remained silent until the teacher arrived.

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**So what do you guys think? And pairing suggestions? **

**Rewritten: 07/AUG/2015**


	2. Imouto

**Hope you enjoy the story :)**

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The teacher was a middle-aged man, who had short brown hair. His chin had a scar, which formed two faint crosses; you had to squint to be able to see it. He strode into the class with a cheery demeanour and greeted everyone. Upon noticing Sakura, he announced that his name was Mr. Kiaza, told her to come to the front of the class and speak about herself.

_Well isn't this awkward._ She cleared her throat before walking to the front and wearily eying the body of students in front of her. "*Watashi wa Sakura-desu. I'm from Amegakure… umm... I play football and enjoy listening to music and dancing. I sketch too sometimes." Her eyes looked to the teacher silently asking to go back and sit down. Mr. Kiaza ignored it and turned to the class, his smile took up his entire face,

"Does anyone have any questions for Sakura?" a few students looked at each other.

"Why did you dye your hair?"

"It's natural." A few gasps reached her ears.

"When did you join the Akatsuki?" someone bravely voiced, after this the entire classed watched her intently awaiting some type of response. Sakura on the other hand was a little confused. _The akat-what_?

"What's that?" some students gave a funny look and gestured towards the jumper she was wearing. "Oh this? It's my brothers…Pein." As soon as Sakura mentioned his name, the eyes of some of the girls narrowed while others openly gawked. Feeling satisfied that Sakura had interacted with the class Mr. Kiaza told her to take a seat. However, Sakura could not help but feel that the animosity towards her had grown substantially, and was now a walking target. Frown lines appeared between her brows and she tried to think what the Akatsuki was. In all honesty, she had never heard of it in her life. Not really paying attention to the class, her head turned to look out of the window and observe the large track and field just outside. If she strained her neck a little more, the car park and school entrance was in her focal point. Diverting her gaze back to the field she spotted the girl that called her a slut crying to a group of people. _They look pissed. Whatever. _

When the bell went Sakura picked her schedule out of her jeans pocket, _history room 43 Mr. Kakashi Hatake_. Knowing that nobody would help her Sakura stood and made her way towards the door, only to find Pein waiting for her. He gave her a knowing look that promised that he would not abandon her. Next to him was Konan, her face looked kinder than it did previously and this time she actually smiled at Sakura. "What lesson do you ha-"

"What's Akatsuki?" Sakura interrupted Pein and fired a blunt question. She was not one to beat around the bush and he knew that. The blue haired girl next to him frowned slightly; no one spoke to him like that. Not once had she spoke to him in such a way during their four-year relationship.

Pein's tone was harsh, "It doesn't concern you." Eyes pierced through her soul trying to force her to drop the subject. As far as he was concerned the less, she knew the better. Nevertheless, Sakura did not see it this way; she took a step back from him and walked off down the hall, totally ignoring the fact that she had no idea where she was going. Pein didn't run after her since he _knew _he was the one in the wrong. Sighing, he linked his fingers with his girlfriend and they went to their own lesson.

After two minutes of walking, the hallway was now completely empty. _Fuck, I'm lost. _She eyed the numbers on the door but none of them were even close to 43. Walking around a corner, she saw the girl that called her a slut and some of the guys that she had spotted in the field while she was in the homeroom. In total, there were four of them, excluding the girl. Two appeared to be twins that had dark grey hair with bangs that each covered a different eye. The tallest of them had dark orange hair that consisted of three tufts; his orange eyes smirked dangerously as he took in her appearance. "_Speak of the devil". _At this point Sakura stopped walking and folded her arms over the hoodie Pein gave her. The boy who spoke had dark tanned skin with shaggy black hair and eyes. His eyes dragged their way through her body, scanning her lavishly enough to make Sakura shiver slightly in disgust. She knew she couldn't fight all of them, but she'd definitely take two of them down with her. Wasted, was the anticipation as they all gave her once last glance before walking off. To no doubt, plan their revenge.

Sakura unclenched her fists and carried on roaming the hall aimlessly, this gave her time to think deeply. She wasn't a fool; the pieces came together in her head as she guessed that her brother was probably in some type of gang. In addition, the red clouds that adorned their hoodies was most likely a symbol of association. Looking down at her body Sakura eyed the clouds; nothing good could come out of this. Her first day in school and things had already gone terribly wrong. She moved wearily around the school for a few minutes before giving up and making her way toward the field, the sun was out and shined brightly on the forest green grass. Sakura sat on the bleachers and watched various people practicing. Soon she heard the bell again and looked at her schedule to see what lesson she would be missing. _Geography room 74, Mr. Asuma Sarutobi. _She wasn't going to bother making an effort to find the class due to her sour mood. Instead, Sakura took off the hoodie and stuffed it into her pastel pink duffle bag while removing a small sketchpad and some pencils. She was wearing a white long sleeved crop top, and boyfriend jeans to match with her converse. The hair band that was on her wrist tied her pink locks into a messy bun on top of her head. This exposed her neck piecing.

40 minutes in, she had completed a drawing of a raven perched on top of a tree. Birds were one of the few things she could draw perfectly; everything else took more time and a lot more rubbing out. The watch on left hand indicated that she only had 5 minutes left until break, then her phone vibrated,

_To Sakura_

_Sorry for being a bit harsh. Did you find your class in the end? Also, wait for me at the start of break at the bleachers.  
From Pein.  
__

_To Pein_

_It's all right. No, I got lost. I'm already at the bleachers; I didn't go to any of my classes this morning.  
From Sakura  
_

After seeing Sakura's message Pein growled in frustration, if she was not careful she would end up creating a bad reputation for herself with the teachers. As soon as the bell went, he and Konan went to the bleachers, to meet up with the other members and his sister. When his eyes looked caught sight of Sakura the first thing he noticed was that she had taken off his hoodie. Strolling up to her to took a seat to her right and inquired whether she was all right. Sakura nodded absentmindedly to whatever he asked her, not really paying attention to what he had to say.

Itachi walked up to the bleachers with Deidara at his side, they both spotted Sakura but only Deidara, being the idiot that he was, chose to comment on her. Deidara's eyebrows wiggles suggestively as he spoke, "Pein's sister is _so _sexy, ne?"

"If he hears you, he'll kill you. I hope you know that." Despite this Itachi agreed with his blonde friend. The shirt Sakura was wearing appeared to fit her body _very _well. Deidara huffed and started babbling on how he was supposedly indestructible. Itachi gave him a small smirk indicating that he thought what the blonde-haired man was saying was rubbish, thus causing him to rant and rave about art and something along the lines of explosives. When they reached Pein's sister, Itachi took the time to analyse her face properly. The first thing that stood out to him was the symmetry of her face. Her skin was flawless and rounded perfectly, _beautiful. _Itachi quickly diverted his gaze. This was Pein's sister. She was _off limits. _He didn't need to be told.

"Where's the hoodie I gave you?" Sakura reached into her bag and gave it to him, "Why did you take it off?"

"I was hot." Pein didn't question further and suggested that she should get something to eat if she was hungry, he pointed to the side of the track to some lunch ladies serving snacks, drinks and even soup. _Hmm that looks good, _Sakura smiled slightly before leaving to get something. As she walked down the steps, Deidara took this moment to eye her. _God she's hot. _The boyfriend trousers that she wore fit snuggly, _very _snuggly. A shark pain to his foot brought him out of his daze; Itachi was looking at him in warning. The blonde just laughed it off before explaining to the group how he had managed to steal the keys to the supply closet. Kisame rolled his eyes and stated that even a ten year old could have done it; once again, Deidara was riled up. Kisame found it amusing anger his friend.

When Sakura reached the lunch women, she waited in line until it was her turn. Looking at the options in front of her, her hands grabbed a packet of gum, and a tuna sandwich. Sticking her hands in her pockets, she paid and then made her way back to the bleachers. However, her movement forcibly halted when a hand reached out and grabbed her hair pulling it back. The food in Sakura's arms dropped and she felt a strong punch to her ribs, her hands came up to defend her face and she looked at her attacker. It was one of the guys that she encountered in the corridor. The one with the black shaggy hair and eyes. Rage coloured her vision as she struck back with a violent punch to his nose, effectively breaking it, this didn't stop her, her elbow collided with his stomach and the air was forced out if his lungs.

Pein looked at the field and saw a huge crowd, in the middle was Sakura fighting a guy. The other members saw this and they all ran down to pull Sakura back. Pein would personally fuck up the boy who dared to lay a hand on his little sister. Hidan held on to Sakura's waist and pulled her back while Konan tried to move the guys hand out of her hair. Whereas Pein, rammed into the guy, pushing him into the ground. He then wrapped his hand around the boy's neck and lifted him up high for all to see. Pein recognised him as Kidōmaru, a member of The Sound Four. A pathetic group he had to say. Just a bunch of hooligans. Pein released his hand and let Kidōmaru drop to the ground, before he could think Sakura leaped on the boy and punch him in the face repeatedly, with Hidan struggling to pull her off. When Sakura stood up, Pein could see the fully extent of her injuries, bloody nose, bruised lip and puffy cheeks.

Deidara turned to see the head teacher approaching, rapidly. He then looked past the crowd and saw his brother, "Naruto! Come here, baka!" Naruto rushed over, albeit reluctantly. "Take her," he gestured to Sakura, "To the medical room. Hurry, idiot." The other members understood that Deidara was trying to stop Sakura from ending on the receiving end of the principals' wrath. So when Sakura was safely in the building, Pein whispered to Kidōmaru lowly.

"If you snitch, say goodbye to your precious slut of a girlfriend. By the time my friends are finished with her, there'll be _nothing _left." Pein had put the pieces together; the girl that called Sakura a slut was the girlfriend of the Kidōmaru, who attacked his little sister. _Pathetic._

The school principal was a fierce man. He had a large imposing figure and two scars on his face. His name was Ibiki Morino The cloak he danced behind him as he strong towards the group before bellowing, "NO FIGHTING ON SCHOOL GROUNDS!" many students who witnessed the fight fled back to their seats and Pein gave Kidōmaru a warning glare.

Itachi stepped up, "We were just play fighting sir, but things got out of hand. It won't happen again." Ibiki's eyes looked at the boy that had been beaten up, but if no one was willing to confess, he couldn't exclude anyone or hand out punishments. Nevertheless, this unruly behaviour was not acceptable. It was only a matter of time before they fought _outside _school and ended up disgracing the entire institution. He knew what he had to do. Therefore, with this plan in mind he swiftly turned around to start making arrangements. Zetsu let out a breath he didn't know is was holding as he watched the principle retreat. The crowd began to disperse and the gang followed Pein who headed towards the medical room. Kidōmaru was on the grass, and his friends came to his aid and helped to pick him up from the ground.

In the medical room Naruto set Sakura down on the makeshift bed, the nurse was nowhere to be found so he grabbed and ice pack from the small fridge and handed it to Sakura. She pressed it to her cheek and winced in slight pain. Turning back Naruto got some cloth and ran it under warm water before squeezing out the excess water. He then crouched down to her level ad began to wipe away the blood that stained her face.

Sakura looked up at the boy she didn't know, that helped her. "I'm Sakura." Her voice was weak; she just wanted to curl up in her bed without being disturbed.

"I'm Naruto! Believe it! Deidara told me to get you here. He's my brother."

"Oh…well I'm Pein's sister." Naruto looked interested and nodded as she explained that she used to live in Amegakure and had recently moved to Konoha. She didn't know _why _she was telling him this, but it felt nice to have someone to talk with.

"That's pretty cool Sakura-chan! Well my dad's the mayor of the city and my mom is a chef! Deidara's a complete teme, you know!" Naruto's eyes glowed as he spoke and the happiness he radiated caused Sakura to giggle. He looked at her shyly, "you're really cute, Sakura-chan!"

Her smile was wide, "Thanks, Naruto-kun."

As soon as Pein and his friends strode into the room, Naruto gave her an apologetic smile and left. She was under the impression that Naruto did not like them very much. Her brother came close and crouched down as Naruto had done, and inspected her face. "First day and you're already in trouble." Pein sighed, being and older brother was more work than he expected. Later on, he would have to get tips from Kisame, Itachi, Sasori and Deidara.

Sakura frown petulantly, "I didn't _ask _for the fucking punch." She could feel an argument coming on, and was in no mood to loose. "Coming to this city was _your idea,_" her voice sounded like a snarky, as all the previous resentment towards him bubbled up. "_Do not_ speak to me like I'm a child, Pein."

His eyes glared at her furiously, "Sakura, don't _fucking swear at me. _I treat you like a child because you're too headstrong and don't know when to back off. You're here, because mom's here, it's not like you could live in Ame all by yourself, so grow the fuck up and stop trying to push all the blame on me." Sakura sneered at him before pushing herself of the bed. During the fight, part of her sleeve had been torn, showing and intricate design of a dragon that reached all the way up her arm. Upon seeing this, Pein grabbed her and stared at it long before asking, "What the _fuck _is this?"

Sakura flinched at the anger directed towards her. _Oh kami._

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***Watashi wa - I am**  
***Teme - Bastard **  
***Baka - Idiot**  
***Kun/ Chan - Endearment**

**Hope you enjoyed reading this and let me know who you'd like to see in the next chapter! I'm also open to suggestions as to what you'd be interesting in seeing , e.g type of fight that occurs, ect.**

**Rewritten: 07/AUG/2015**


	3. Otou-san

**New chapter! We get to know more about the other characters. Enjoy!**

**A/N: Every character you see, is actually in Naruto. No OC's. So search them up if you want an idea of what they look like.**

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Pein looked as though he was ready to punch her, so in a desperate attempt to diffuse the situation Itachi moved forward, "Should I take her to the next class?" the orange haired man said nothing as he briskly turned away. A knot formed in Sakura's stomach letting her know that she'd disappointed him. _Why do I care? _ Before he left, Pein gave her once last look, which was enough to convey just how upset he was. The Akatsuki members didn't know how to respond to his, their leader never showed his emotions as freely as he was doing now. Konan closed her eyes and wished for Nagato and Yahiko to be there. _They would know how to comfort him. _They were Pein's cousins and now that Sakura was there Konan could see the similarities between all of them. Yahiko and Pein were mistaken for twins, as they looked practically identical, while Nagato had the same nose and eye shape as Sakura.

Sakura allowed Itachi to guide her through the hallway, every so often; she would glance at him discreetly. _Cha he's hot! _She permitted herself to scan his face, his hair was long and jet-black, Sakura wanted to run her hands through it in appreciation. Onyx eyes turned to look at her, she wasn't even ashamed to be caught staring. None of them noticed that they had stopped walking. "Yes?" Itachi asked, wondering why she was analysing him in such an intense way, this seemed to break her chain of thought and the Uchiha carried on walking.

Something clicked in Sakura's mind, "Wait, you don't know my schedule..."

"Pein looked like he was going to hit you. So I intervened." The black haired boy looked over at her his eyes roamed over the arm that which had been decorated, "What does that tattoo mean?" Her eyes looked over at him hesitantly.

"Nothing. It doesn't _mean_ anything. " Sakura refused to say anymore. Nonetheless, her mind drifted off to her younger days, and the actual reason why her family had spilt up in the first place.

_The civil war in Amegakure was horrendous. Sakura was five when it started and nine when it ended. It was only four years but it was four years of bloodshed. Father against son, mother against daughter, there was no trust. Sakura's dad was a doctor, every day she would see him return home covered in blood, and smelling like disinfectant, and her mother who was an advanced nurse had pretty much the same experience as him. Her dad was named Ise, he had short black her and maroon coloured eyes in comparison to her mother, Fusō, whose hair was red and long which stood out against her pale green eyes. Back then Sakura and Pein did not go to school, no child did. With the increase in bombings, many institutions were, closed due to lack of income or shut down by the government to deter people from blowing them up in revenge attacks. This didn't work of course; everyday on the news there was always some type of story on the destruction that was caused. Sakura was too young back then to understand, but she had Pein. So the loneliness never got to her. The lack of education they were receiving troubled her parents deeply. There were practically no shops left, so buying books was out of the question. Sakura remembered a conversation of theirs._

_Ise looked bothered, "Who knows how long this war will last, and they need an education." His wife nodded in agreement, but tied were their hands. The only shops open were small food stores and buildings that only sold necessities. As a doctor Ise knew that childhood was the most important time in terms of brain development. His was worried about Sakura, at the age of eight she should be reading as much as possible to increase literacy and writing skills. She was already three years behind other children her age. If things carried on the way they were now the damage would be nearly impossible to undo. Pein was not really at risk of this, he was seven when the war began; he already had the vital skills needed for his age. _

_The doctor looked at his wife and held her hands, "We need to leave this place. In fact, we should have been gone as soon as the war started. We cannot stay here. If it doesn't kill us first, then it will kill our children."_

_Fusō sympathised with her husband, but the most dangerous place in Amegakure was the border, you had to either walk or drive there seeing at the national airport had been shut down by the government, and tens of thousands died trying to cross it. The place was a hub for criminals who robbed families and raped females regardless of their age. She expressed this to Ise and he nodded solemnly. It felt as if their days were numbered. 5 days ago a hospital had been bombed killing everyone inside, it was hard to work with death's shadow looking over your shoulder constantly. _

_ Roughly, 4 months later, an explosion was set off in their neighbourhood. All the houses were on fire, the scene looked like something from hell. The top part of the ceiling collapsed on Sakura's arm trapping her. The flames tickled her flesh and the smell of burning reached her nose, until her father and mother lifted up the wood while Pein dragged her out. They had run out into the commotion of the street to witness other families in a similar situation. The cold rain had decreased the pain on her arm. In agony, they all watched as their home burnt with all of their possessions in side. Sakura was perched on Pein's back, "What happened…" the rain muffled her voice but he heard it._

_"Hiryū" that was all he said but Sakura understood. _

_Fire dragon. _

_Her father had taken them to a shelter, and made sure they were all as comfortable as possible. However, Sakura could see has was exhausted. After another 5 months of war, peace had finally been declared with the government on the winning side. They tried to rebuild their lives but it all seemed so mechanical. _

_"Ise, you can't hide it from me, you hate it here. Take Pein, and go to Konoha! Border control is still tight so Sakura and I will stay behind. Live with your brother while you get yourself back on your feet! Every time you to go to the hospital, a little less of you comes back. You cannot stay in such a disheartening place." Fusō hugged her husband tightly; separation was a sacrifice she was willing to make. He was not the same man she had married. War had stripped him of himself and left only a poor imitation of what had been. This was not the first time she had suggested he went to Konoha. Yet, each time he had adamantly refused to split the family. _

_This time her persuasion had worked and Ise had relented. The next day he called his brother, Izumo, and explained the situation. Izumo nearly fainted when Ise called. During the war, there was no communication because the rebels often cut power lines, so Izumo had thought his brother had died. This pained him but the phone call destroyed all of his previous fears effectively._

_During this Sakura did not understand what was happening. She had seen Pein packing what little he had and tried to question him, but alas, he did not know either. A few days before they left their parents had called them for a family meeting and thoroughly explained. Sakura cried because she thought Pein would never come back but her terrors stopped when her mother said they would visit regularly and one day they would all live together again. _

_She spent her last few days with Pein just talking and playing. They were so close. He was the one that read to her at night and wrapped up her bandaged arm. The burns left ugly scars but with treatment, it would eventually look better, but never fully heal. Pein had explained to her that their previous house had caught fire because a Fire Dragon had coughed as it passed by, and Sakura should not be ashamed of the scars because it showed people that she had survived against a destructive ethereal being. The following day her father and Pein had left to Konoha, they all kept in touch by calling but as the years went on Sakura didn't communicate with him at all. He usually said he was busy with schoolwork or was hanging out with friends. On the other hand, her mother and father spoke every day, once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the night. _

The bell rang to signify break was over, and Itachi ask to see what she had next, she then handed him the paper and waited patiently for him to finish reading. _Double Biology room 26, Mrs. Rin Nohara and nurse Shizune. _

"Why do I have two teachers?"

"For the first period of biology, you learn the government curriculum, the stuff that's going to be on your exam. For the second period, the nurse teaches you basic safety procedures such as CRP and the recovery position and as the weeks go on, this will get more complex. As you can see, you only have a nurse once a week which is today."

"Why?"

"During the civil war in Amegakure many died from injuries that didn't require hospital treatment, but the civilians didn't know this. Konoha teaches this because although we may not have a civil war, you could save someone's life if you know what do when there is a car accident, or if a person has a concussion. It's very useful."

She nodded but knew she didn't need the course. After the war, when her father and Pein had left, Sakura's mother had stopped being an advanced nurse and learnt to be a doctor instead. Fusō had qualified in plastic surgery and specialised in artificial limbs and reconstructive surgery.

As they neared the class, Sakura rolled up the torn sleeve to hide its condition unfortunately this drew attention to the tattoo. She thanked Itachi and turned to enter. There were only a handful of students sitting when she entered, and as expected most were staring at her arm. Ignoring it, she took a seat next to a boy that looked as though he was sleep. Mrs. Rin Nohara took registration, gave everyone workbooks, and then started to teach. _Cells, Osmosis, Nucleus, and Protein, _as she spoke Sakura, like the rest of the class took notes. However, Sakura was a sluggish writer and a slow reader. She missed nearly four years of school because of the civil war and now she was paying for it. _Oh well._ It was hard to keep up. The boy next to her noticed and lifted an eyebrow in her direction.

"Troublesome..." He shifted his finished notes towards her and went back to sleep. Sakura was rather surprised but thanked him and copied his notes. By the time the lesson was over, she was still only half way through. Once again a wave of self-depreciation washed above her and made Sakura feel inferior. She knew she shouldn't blame herself, but it still annoyed her that she wasn't like everyone else. The boy next to her had shoulder length brown hair that was tied back in a spikey ponytail. _Pineapple head. _His eyes were a brown shade of hazel as they glanced lazily at her. Sakura handed his book back to him even though she wasn't finished, and turned her attention back to the front of the class. Nurse Shizune walked in and started speaking about the recovery position. The all had to practice of the person next to them, so Sakura had been paired with the lazy boy. Each person took turns being the victim and the saviour. The rest of the lesson breezed past, and Sakura had managed to find out the boy's name, Shikamaru.

"That's a nice tattoo. The design looks real detailed"

"Thank you…um I like your studs" Shikamaru smirked at this and absentmindedly prodded his eyes, they were still sore.

"Thanks, I see you've got a few piercings of your own." Shikamaru pointed to her snakebite piercing and the one on her neck. "You don't have your ears pierced though, strange." Sakura smiled at this and explained that there was no a real reason for that; she just didn't want anything in her ears. Sakura's phone went off distracting her from the conversation.

_To Sakura_

_Do you want to eat lunch with my friends and me? What happened in the medical room was blown out of proportion and once again, I'm sorry. I keep screwing up and I don't know why. Forgive me?  
From Pein._

Sakura couldn't help but smile slightly; he was making an effort so she would too.

_To Pein_

_Yeah sure, I don't mind. I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have said what I did and I guess I owe you an explanation for the tattoo.  
From Sakura_

The bell went off and Sakura waved goodbye to Shikamaru, as Pein picked her up at the door and they made their way to the canteen. "How was biology?"

"Mom's a doctor remember? It's pretty easy." Pein smiled at this and let her chatter along the hallway. "You know how I missed like four years of school? Yeah, I knew I was slow at reading and writing but never really noticed because back in Amegakure _everyone _missed four years of school. But here? I can't keep up... It's kind of embarrassing, you know?" Pein vocalised his understanding and remember the slight trouble he had when he first moved to Konoha, but after a few years, he caught up with the rest of the students. This was something he doubted Sakura would be able to do.

Pein knew that, as a big brother one of his jobs was to reassure Sakura, so he smiled at her and encouraged her that once she got the flow of it, the rest would be easy. She believed him wholeheartedly. Nearing the canteen Sakura spotted Naruto and waved to him, which he returned.

"I see you're making friends." He couldn't keep the smile off his voice, when he saw Sakura blush slightly at his observation. The table they were sitting at was right in the middle of the canteen, Sakura could see Kisame and Deidara in a fierce eating competition while the others watched, obviously entertained by the sight before them. Taking a seat beside Pein, they also observed eventual Deidara won and had gone of the challenge his brother as well while Kisame went to puke in the toilets. Sakura stood with Konan to queue for their food. When they got back to the table, Kisame had returned from the toilet, and Deidara had lost his eating competition with Naruto so he was sulking; they all eat and spoke comfortably with each other. After a while, Sakura started to notice the stares coming her way, looking around she saw Naruto with a boy that looked like Itachi. _Probably his brother. _Sakura wasn't sure so she asked, in which he nodded confirming her thoughts.

She had asked questions about the people around her and learnt a few interesting things.

Sasori had three siblings Gaara, Temari and Kankurō. They originated from Suna, his father was a manager at a car factory, and his mother worked with social services. His grandmother, named Chiyo, painted prosthetic limbs to match the skin tone of the patient. Deidara was Naruto's older brother and as she already knew, his dad was the mayor and his mom was a chef, but she didn't know that this was part time and she spent most of her time volunteering at the orphanage.

Kisame had a younger brother named Suigetsu. His father was Zabuza and his mother was Ameyuri. They were both weapons specialist that designed knives, daggers, _sharp stuff basically_, for the military. Itachi was related to Sasuke and his father was chief at the precinct, he stated that his mother worked there too but she was a detective. Zetsu stated that he was an only child and lived with his mother, Kaguya; she cultivated plants and studied herbalism. Her studies allowed her to help with the development of pharmaceutical drugs.

Sakura found out that Hidan and Kakuzu were cousins, while Kakuzu was an orphan and lived with Hidan and his parents. Hidan's mother was Maki and his father was Tatewaki, they both taught martial arts and self-defence. Konan lived with her mother, Pakura. She was an interior designer and Konan explained that her mother was best friends with Hidan's mom, so they had known each other since childbirth.

Sakura listening intently to all of them, they were just so interesting. When lunch was over her belly was full and she has some difficulty getting up, much to Pein amusement. He helped her up and asked where she was off to next, her schedule was blank indicating she had free period, and Pein suggested that she go to the library to get some revision or sit at the bleachers if she wanted to relax. The bell went and everyone went his or her separate way.

When Sakura arrived at the bleachers, she sat down and saw what looked like tryouts for boys' football. Squinting she could see Naruto warming up with Itachi's brother. _They look like best friends. _

The coach was an enthusiastic man clad in bright green. _Weird…_

_"THE POWER OF YOUTH SHINES BRIGHTLY WITHIN YOU ALL!"_

Sakura blinked.

* * *

**So what did you guys think? let me know by reviewing :)**

**P.s See how zetsu's mother is kaguya? lmao.**

**Rewritten: 07/AUG/2015**


	4. Dattebayo

**New Chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

Emerald eyes watched attentively as the boys were place into four different groups: the midfielders, strikers, defenders and goalies. Naruto joined the group of strikers while Sasuke was with the midfielders. The coach was an enthusiastic man that kept screaming something along the lines of youth and lotus flowers. It was rather endearing to watch and her heart went out to those standing closest to him, particularly a brown haired kid with two triangular shaped plasters on each cheek. The boy's eyebrows twitched, in barely contained irritation as the coach babbled on. After five minutes, he made them do endurance runs to test their stamina and laps to gauge their individual speed. Initially, fifty students participated in the try-outs, but the testing was rigorous and unforgiving.

In half an hour, this number became merely twenty-six. Once the coach had compiled a mental note of each player, he moved on to basic skills, such as passing, lobbing, shooting and scoring. Once again, the number was cut down to twenty-one. The coach stopped, "There can only be eleven of you on the pitch at once, and I intend to have four subs as well. Therefore, to be frank out of the twenty-one, only fifteen will remain. I will put you all into groups. Midfielders, here! Strikers, over there! Defence, to the left! You three goalies, make your way to the post!"

Out of all that remained, three wanted to be goalkeepers, seven wanted to be strikers, six wanted to be midfielders and five wanted to be in defence. The coach then tested their dibbling, defence, pace, and accuracy. Many were skilled and it was obvious that they had been playing since they were young. Sakura's eye diverted to a green haired girl who, strolled up to the coach and demanded to try-out. To pitch listened silently wondering if the coach would allow her to join. Unsurprisingly he said no but only because she was late to the try-outs. At this she pouted and proceeded plead, "But, there isn't a girls' team! Please Gai-sensei!"

Gai then frowned in concentration while he considered her request, "There can't just be _one _girl on the team… if there were two or three it wouldn't be a big deal but…sorry Fū-chan, try basketball instead, and they have a girls' team."

Her eyes lit up, it seemed as though she was unaware of this, and she thanked him before running of in the direction of the basketball court. When she left the students promptly went back to practicing. An hour later Gai rounded them up and called out the names of those who made it, their positions and gave them their jerseys with a number on it.

"Kiba, Striker, number 1!"

"Jūgo, Goalkeeper, number 3!"

"Sasuke, Midfielder, number 4!"

"Kimimaro, Defender, number 5!"

"Suigetsu, Midfielder, number 7!"

"Shibuki, Defender, number 8!"

"Naruto,-"

"DATTEBAYO!" "Shut up, dobe!"

"Ahem! Naruto, Midfielder, number 9!"

"Lee! The power of youth shines greatly within you! Defender, number 11!"

"Gaara, Striker, number 12!"

"Sumara, Defender, number 15!"

"Suiu, Defender, number 16!"

"Sukima! Striker sub, number 21! Kōji! Midfielder sub, number 22! Atsui! Defender sub, number 25!"

"And finally Omoi! Goalkeeper sub, number 27!"

The students that had made it smiled and relaxed a little, and the ones who had not, congratulated the rest before leaving. Gai had told them that practice started after school and he wanted them to reach the national championships so they would need to train every day.

Sakura watched them a little until a girl with straight, fiery red hair slowly made her way towards her. From what the pinkette could she, the girl was a cheerleader that much was obvious. Her uniform consisted of a matching forest green upper half that cropped at her navel and the skirt had a split on either side which revealed the black shorts underneath. The design was straightforward; there were beams of gold that entrenched the hem of both the skirt and the top. In the middle of the upper half, in block writing 'Konoha Kitsune' was in fiery red. Her shoes were plain white with a matching colour of ankle socks. Overall, she looked good and very attractive.

"Umm, hey I'm Karin! Basically, I'm trying to get people to join the cheer squad, try-out outs are on Friday so make sure you're there." Sakura smiled politely in response, and watched the girl, Karin, tell other students. For a brief moment, Sakura considered trying out, because she was athletic, but she was not flexible enough to attempt any stunts. Sure, she could do the splits, but that was as far as her body was willing to stretch. The time on her iPhone showed that it was nearly 3:30 so school was ending soon.  
_

Ok, so maybe Pein lied when he told Sakura that we was going to his lesson. However, maybe again he didn't _lie _because he did go, but left as quickly as he came. Right now, his body and Konan's were flush against each other making her moan, pant and just being so damn gorgeous. It was making him crazy; his hands roamed her through her body, exploring every curve and lump. The duo were in an abandoned art closet doing naughty things to each other.

Kissing her roughly, he lifted Konan up, making her wrap her legs around his waist. The contact made them groan in pleasure; her hips rolled against his seductively thus making him lose control. Pein roughly pulled down her skinny jeans and placed her bottom on a table so that his hips were between her legs. Konan looked up at him, signifying that she trusted him; this was all he need as he pushed himself inside her, slowly at first before going deeper and quickening his pace. Konan grabbed his auburn hair tightly and threw her head back. Her panting became rigid much like his; they were both close to climax, and could feel it. Pein's hands clutched her hips as he began to thrust harder than before. By now, Konan's panting was getting heavier and heavier until they both came. She went limp in his arms and he rubbed her back in a lazy manner. When she looked up at him, a smirk adorned his lips before he kissed with a passion that she returned whole-heartedly.

"I…care about you." Konan smiled softly, this was as close as he had ever come to saying the 'L' word. None of them had said it to each other because love wasn't something you just said, it was a feeling that demanded to be felt and currently their affections towards each other wasn't on that level but it was still something special. They re-dressed and cleaned up before exiting the closet, hands interlinked. They had missed the entire lesson but neither were concerned to any particular degree. Pein brought out his phone so that he could know where his sister was.

_To Sakura_

_Where are you? School is nearly over.  
From Pein  
__

_To Pein_

_The bleachers.  
From Sakura  
__

_To Sakura_

_All right, Konan and I are coming.  
From Pein  
__

The pinkette read the message before pocketing her phone once again. She was brought out of her thoughts were Naruto walked up to her, oblivious of the sweat that he was drenched with

"Hey Sakura-chan!"

She smiled in response and allowed him to sit near her, "Hi Naruto-kun how was football?"

"Heh, I made the team dattebayo!" Sakura listened to the blonde rave on about how good he was and how much better he was compared to Sasuke, when he finished he bid her goodbye and said he was going to practice a bit more. "Bye Sakura-chan!"

Left to her own devices _again, _her eyes scanned her medium length nails with patience mixed with boredom. She stayed like this until Pein tapped her on the head, she could see Konan next to him. Sakura stood up and placed her bag on her shoulder. "Are we going home now?" he nodded and gave Konan a quick kiss before making his way to the car park.

The journey home was filled with small talk, "How was your day today Sakura?"

"Well, apart from being punched, hated and gossiped about, not too bad."

Pein grimaced and gave her an apologetic look, "Anything else? What about friends? Who did you meet?"

"I met some guy called Shikamaru, he's pretty cool. Oh, and Naruto…"

Her brother nodded, "Naruto's a good kid."

"I know. A girl called Karin came up to me and told me that cheer tryouts are on Friday. I'm not very flexible but there's no harm in trying, right?" Immediately Pein scowled.

"I don't know this Karin girl, but guys look at cheerleader like they're just objects. Try something else. Join the art club or- wait never mind, don't join that."

"Why?"

"Deidara runs that, he's crazy." Sakura let out a loud giggle at her brother's protectiveness; this made her want to tease him a bit.

"Ne, but Deidara-kun is cute!" her eyes twinkled in mischief when she saw him tighten his grip around the steering wheel. "I think I like him, Aniki."

"Shut-up" he had murmured and stared straight ahead, avoiding eye contact. She laughed until they reached home finding it funny that he did not want her to have a crush on any of his friends. He pulled up into the driveway before taking off his seat belt and opening the front door, with Sakura trailing behind him.

Where they lived was modest with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a garden. Their parent's room had a bathroom connected to it, while the other one was located in the hallway between Sakura and Pein's room. The garden was not big but there was enough space for a shed that contained bikes, a table, chairs and barbeque. The kitchen had a dining table big enough for six people, and connected to the living room. There was also a study there their parents shared; Medical books and files for work, covered the shelves and bookcases. When they stepped through the door, Sakura breezed through the hall into the living room to put down her bag. She stretched out lazily on the couch and peered up at Pein, who had come to loom over her.

"Tired?"

"Yeah…"

He sat on the chair opposite and turned on the TV, to watch Catfish on MTV. The show was very funny and never failed to make him laugh. Seeing people pretend to be something they were not was sad and he only felt pity towards them. Sakura watched too, amused as they caught the Catfish. Her ears perked up at the sound of the front door opening, their dad was home.

Ise entered the house tiredly; it wasn't easy, to work in the same hospital that admitted your wife, but somehow he found the strength. Walking further into the house, he made his way to the living room and greeted his children. "How was school?"

His children shared a look between each other before giving a fake smile and pretending everything was fine, as a father it was is job to know when his children were lying however, he wanted them to have some secrets between each other.

"Well, as long as I don't get a call from the principle, there's no issue."

His threat hung loosely in the air as he walked to the kitchen to eat some leftover Chinese. Sakura exhaled in relief before joining her father in the kitchen to eat alongside him. Pein remained seated to continue watching the programme. When that had finished he went straight to his room, right now, he wasn't feeling particularly hungry. Pein's room was painted black, which contrasted with his white carpet, bedsheets and furniture. Overall, this gave the room a modern look and the plainness was something that comforted him. He made his way to the bed and flopped onto it, looking up to the ceiling he allowed his mind to drift over the day's events.

Two streets down, Deidara was chatting animatedly with Itachi as they both entered his home. Upon walking through the door, the sweet aroma of Miso Ramen greeted them. Deidara's mom was cooking some homemade ramen. Kushina looked up when the two boys entered the kitchen, "Ohayo, Itachi-kun! How's your mother?"

"She's fine, thank you." Itachi responded and took a seat next to blond friend on the dining table. Minato's was also home and he came to join the two boys on the table. "How was school today, guys?"

Deidara spoke up first, "Ne, school is so boring, but there's a new hot chick!" Itachi then promptly whacked him over the head.

"Baka, Pein will kill you if he finds out what you're saying." Minato watched, amused.

"Oh? Who's that?"

"Pein's little sister" his dad nodded with an interested look on his face. When the food was ready, Kushina gave them each a serving before sitting next to her husband. The table was filled with Deidara complaining about school and other trivial things, twenty minutes later Naruto entered and informed them that he had been at football practice. The practice was short because their coach dismissed them early in favour of challenging some old rival. When the youngest blonde-haired person of the family arrived, he had practically inhaled the food through his nose and then skipped off to take a shower.

Itachi was in Deidara's room, on the laptop when he got a call from Kisame, _"Hey Itachi, Go on your Xbox let's play some GTA. I'm bored!"_

_"Kisame, you should revise."_

_"If you keep being boring you'll never get a girlfriend, you know that right?" _the Uchiha scoffed defensively.

_"I've had plenty of girlfriends…"_

_"Uh-huh and how long did they all last?"_

_"…"_

_"I rest my case, now get up and go on your Xbox!"_

_"I'm at Deidra's house, so I'll sign in with his account, you teme."_

_"That's the spirit!"_

Itachi got up and turned on the Xbox, placed the disk inside, without any hassle he and Kisame were racing, running, killing and doing all sorts of wild things in the game. When Deidara walked in he merely grunted before moulding clay to make some sort of flower.

Naruto was having a staring competition with his dad. He eyes watered painful but he refused to give up, Minato on the other hand seemed to be having no trouble at all and even managed to smile. With a groan of frustration, Naruto blinked continuously before his eyes felt normal again.

"Dammit! I'll win next time dattebayo!"

"You said that last time!" Kushina interrupted, while a laugh busted from her mouth, nothing made her happier than being with her family.

* * *

**A nice little family moment the end the chapter. **

**Honestly the saddest moment in Naruto for me was the story of Nagato Konan and Yahiko, and the Kakashi Gaiden. Urgh my eyes watered when I found out that he accidentally killed Rin. First Obito, and Rin and then his sensei. That must have been some serious survivors guilt.**

**Anyways please review and I'd also like to know what you thought the saddest part of Naruto was :D**

**Reviews make me write, people :) :)**

**Rewritten: 07/AUG/2015**


	5. Mockingbird

Pein spent the night talking to his friends on their group chat, this was a regular routine for them, as they mostly discussed random topics and their plans for the week.

_Akatsuki – Pein (Admin), Konan, Itachi, Deidara, Kisame, Sasori, Zetsu, Kakuzu, Hidan, Yahiko, Nagato._

Deidara: _Guysssss, the school said they're cutting some of the funds for art club! Can you believe it?! They have no respect for my talents…_

Hidan: _you don't have any talents you ass wipe_

Itachi: _Maybe if you stopped stealing from the supply closet the department would have more money._

Deidara: _Fuck off Hidan, you're always too busy jerking off to take notice_

Sasori: _I'm suffering too because of your stupidity…_

Konan: _I agree with Sasori, you're not the only one who's in art club you know_

Deidara: _mehh you guys always gang up on me! Back me up Pein!_

Pein: _No._

Zetsu: _I think the school might be introducing a new rule or something, I overheard but I'm not too sure_

Deidara: _…. I hate you all_

Itachi: _if they are I doubt they can reinforce it effectively, they always try to introduce stuff_

Zetsu: _true_

Kakazu: _whatever it is, I hope it's free._

Kisame: _talking about money, who's down to go to the cinema on Saturday?_

Itachi: _sure_

Deidara: _yessssss, Mad Max just came out so definitely that, right?_

Sasori: _for once I agree with the idiot_

Konan: _you guys only care because of the action, but whatever I'll come_

Hidan: _Oh yess! I've been waitin' ages for it to come out, it's got some hot chicks. Hey Pein, your sister's pretty hot you know_

Deidara: _Oi! Me and Itachi claimed dibs first_

Itachi: _you bastard, don't drag me into this. Pein, I'm not part of this_

Pein: _all of you shut up, stop talking about my sister_

Deidara: _shutting up_

Pein: _I can't come on Saturday, Yahiko, Nagato and my uncle are coming back, and my dad and I are picking them up from the airport_

Kisame:_ are we gunna do anything about the Sound Four? I mean it was pretty brutal what they did to your sis._

Pein:_ The trouble that we'll get into isn't worth it. The head teacher is already on to us so any more serious trouble wont be good._

Deidara:_ I really wanna smash their faces in_

Hidan:_ same here_

Itachi:_ It think they've gotten the message though. Sakura is off limits._

Konan:_ what's the name of the guy that attacked her?_

Pein:_ Kidōmaru_

Deidara:_ His girl sucked me off on that art trip a while back…. Good memories…_

Itachi:_ you're disgusting_

Pein:_ …_

Zetsu:_ I'm surprised you haven't caught anything_

Sasori: _As much as I'd like to hear more stories of your conquests, I'm off to bed, night guys_

Hidan: _oi! Don't be a lil bitch, its only 2_

Itachi: _He probably won't see that until the morning_

Konan: _it's late and schools in less than 6 hours, I'm out too _

Deidara: _*insert snore* night guys_

At this point most of them plugged their phones into the charger and went to bed, with the exception of a few who continued to preoccupy themselves in another way.

In the morning, Deidara's eyes squinted open, as they tried to adjust to the sudden influx of light. Stretching lazily, he reached over to turn off his alarm, and then brought is foot to persistently prod Naruto, who had fallen asleep on the floor beside his bed. His brother muttered something incomprehensibly before swatting Deidara's foot away, but to no avail. Deciding that he could not win, Naruto opened his eyes and sent a scowl to Deidara, who just laughed in return. The older boy stood so that he could shower and get ready for school and the younger one moved to do the same, albeit reluctantly.

Birds chirped loudly, waking Sakura up from her sleep, it was nearly seven so instead of waiting for her alarm to go off, she decided to get up and take a shower. Sakura wasn't really a morning person but today she didn't feel like lazing around in bed. Grabbing a towel from the closet she made her way into the bathroom and felt inclined to take a shower instead of a bath. The water was great against her skin and despite wanted to stay for longer, she knew that Pein would be up soon and didn't want to deal with the hassle of him banging on the door. Getting out reluctantly Sakura, wrapped the towel around her body and walked back into her room.

Her face was slightly swollen from the fight the day before but apart from the slight blemish and faint scratch on her left cheek, there was no visible evidence of her fight. To be on the safe side Sakura applied a small amount of foundation to her face to help even out the skin tone. Once satisfied with the results, she checked the weather app on her phone to get an idea of what clothes would be suitable for the day. Noticing that the temperature would be good and the sun would be out all day, Sakura rummaged through her wardrobe until she found some light blue skinny jeans, and a long sleeved white top. Deciding to wear this, she rolled the jeans up slightly and put on her favourite with converse to match. Spinning once in the mirror she decided that she liked the look as the colours meshed together nicely and made her look a lot happier and approachable.

Spotting her duffer bag in the corner of the room, Sakura packed the necessary books inside before pocketing her phone and making her way downstairs into the kitchen for some breakfast.

Her dad had already made pancakes and looked as though he was in a rush. "Good morning, Sakura-hime."

She rolled her eyes at his nickname for her and greeted him with a hug.

"I've made some food for you two, but I've got to get to work quickly, one of my patients is regressing, I'll try to be home for dinner. Be good!" As he was leaving Pein came down to where they were and her dad ruffled his hair before getting into his car and going to work. The two siblings smiled at each other before tucking into their food.

"Have you decided what club to join yet? There's a maximum of 4, if you didn't know." He took a sip of his orange juice as he asked.

"Yeah, I thought about it a little last night. I'm definitely gunna ask about art club and I guess I'll do a bit of cheerleading." Pein scowled at her, she was doing the only two he had a problem with.

"Why don't you join band?"

"I don't play any instruments."

"What about Drama?"

"I can't act."

"Dammit, join debate club or something, I don't care, don't be a cheerleader Sakura. Don't." he was getting annoyed as she deflected his attempts to get her to reconsider her choices.

"Why's it such a big deal anyway." She pointed her fork towards him, "Unless there's something you're not telling me."

"It's not a big deal, I'm just trying to protect you. There's still a lot you don't know about the social order of this school."

"Enlighten me." She was curious as to the way things worked, a little bit of knowledge would probably help her make more friends.

"Alright… I'm in Akatsuki, we're respected, and therefore everyone that we associate with is respected by default. For example Deidara's brother is an idiot, albeit a nice idiot, but _because _his brother is in Akatsuki more people want to be friends with him-" At this point Sakura interjected.

"Meh, I met Naruto-kun already though, he's really nice so I'm sure he would still have friends whether or not his brother is in Akatsuki.

"That's not the point, the point is nobody will mess with him. He's protected, just like you. If you join the cheer team, technically your protection extends to them also as they'll become your friends, and that can't happen."

"Why?"

"Because we don't fuck with them, that's why Sakura." He rubbed his temples before continuing, "The school has a social hierarchy and we happen to be at the top. There's a status quo that needs to be followed…yes? I don't like it much but that's just the way things are."

She nodded reluctantly, because even though she didn't like what she was told, it was very similar in Ame too. "Fine, I won't join, but you don't get a say in anything I choose to pick."

Pein shrugged contently before clearing their plates into the dishwasher, he put on his hoody and grabbed his bag, "Yeah, yeah, let's go." Sakura followed him outside, where they entered his car and journeyed to school. Upon entering the parking lot, Pein pulled up to where his friends usually parked and stepped out the vehicle with Sakura in tow.

While he greeted him, she couldn't help but think about the conversation over breakfast, essentially they were 'friends' with her by association. Thus meaning they may not even like her. She fiddled with the hem of her shirt awkwardly while they all conversed about something she didn't know. From her perspective they all seemed so close, almost like family in fact.

"You're tattoo's pretty hot, you know."

All conversation was halted as Hidan addressed her with a devilish smirk and his eye brightening in mischief, causing Pein to glare at him. His friend ignored the silent warning and stepped closer to Sakura, practically invading her personal space.

"Thanks."

She took a small step back and glanced towards her brother as a sign for help. Lucky before anything more could happen the bell went off and they all walked to into the building, each to their respective classes. But before she turned into her class she caught Pein hitting Hidan on the back of his head, pushing down her amusement Sakura walked into the class and waited for the teacher to show up.

Hoping to help time pass quicker, she pulled out her schedule to review its contents and what the week had in store for her. Sakura would definitely be looking forward to Art this afternoon, it was her favourite subject and hobby.

**Tuesday**_  
8:50-10:30 Double Math (Core 1, Core 2, Decision 1)_

10:30-10:50 Break  
10:50- 12:30 Art and Drama

12:30-1:20 Lunch  
1:20-3:00 Double English (Drama, Prose and Poetry)

Looking at time her phone, she realized the she had spaced out for about 10 minutes, before she could dwell on her thoughts any longer the teach walked in at a leisurely pace and took a seat as his desk. One by one he called out names so that he could take attendance and mark them in. All the while students chatted happily among themselves, totally excluding Sakura from their conversations. They made no eye contact with her and didn't bother to speak to her, this was fine with her of course. She didn't really expect to have a huge mass of friends and care very little for what people thought of her.

All they knew was peace, well she lived through a war and survived. That in itself was a testament to her strength as a person. After a while the bell went off, signalling that it was time for Math, slowing getting up Sakura adjust the weight on her back and slowly made her way out of the class. She didn't see the point in rushing to a lesson she didn't particularly enjoy, although she was good at it.

Upon entering the class, Sakura chose to sit at the front next to a guy with long brown hair. He didn't even acknowledge her existence which was just fine with her.

As the class settled down a teacher with black hair walking in with many books in her hand. Taking a pen, she wrote her name on the board 'Mrs. Kurenai' and smiled politely at the class.

"Alright students, exams may be ages away but time flies really quickly. So this term we need to cover the whole of Core 1, okay? This a non-calculator exam and consists of Differentiation, Algebra, Series, Curve Sketching, Simultaneous equations, Quadratics and Integration. Any questions? When this term is over we'll have a mock exam to see where people are and if they are suited for this course and then move onto C2. It's a little bit like C1 but it's a calculator exam and has more topics such as Binomial expansion, Trigonometry, Sin and Cosine rule, and Logarithms. And last but not least, Decision 1. This is completely different to any of the maths modules but in a way isn't not actually maths, it's more like computer science. The modules consist of Algorithms, Sorting and The Chinese Postman… I don't want to say too much so that I don't confuse you guys, but we'll get there when the time comes."

Sakura was quickly jotting down what the teacher was saying fo she knew what to read up on when the time came, while the boy sitting next to her casually leaned back into his seat while glancing at her from the corner of his eye. Ten minutes after the teacher clarified the rigor of the course and gave students the option to leave the lesson began in full swing. The material was tough to understand but once she got the hang of it, it wasn't so bad.

In that lesson they had covered differentiation and integration as they were very similar, honestly Sakura felt as though she could get an A grade in this subject is she worked hard enough. As the lesson progressed the boy sitting next to her had lost his cold attitude towards her and they were helping each other out with some of the questions in fact.

"How would you find C?"

"They've given us f(x)' which is the differential so we need to integrate to get f(x), then sub the X and Y coordinates in to find the value of C."

They both eyed the question for a while, before he nodded in approval at her strategy and obtaining the answer.

"I'm Neji by the way. I've never seen you here before, new?

"Yeah, I just moved from Amegakure. I'm Sakura."

"You're really good at maths it seems."

Sakura smiled at his compliment and they fell into an easy conversation, he didn't seem to be as mean as he let on. Although from the outside he was cold and distant but as she spoke to him more his shoulders relaxed and he turned he body slightly to face her more. She was starting to like this guy and if things kept up, she could really see him as friend. He was obviously intelligent and very perceptive, also he didn't ask any questions about Amegakure and the civil war.

When the lesson ended, Sakura made her way to the bleachers, as she did yesterday in hope to find her Brother or even Naruto, to her luck Naruto spotted her first and waved her over to his group of friends.

"Hey Sakura-chan, what's up?"

"Hey Naruto-kun, I'm fine." He grinned a tooth smile at her and ushered her to take a seat, while his intentions were good, Sakura felt a little awkward as she wasn't introduced to anyone else around her. Luckily Itachi's brother seemed to notice this and berated his friend for his lack of manners.

"Oh Sorry Sakura-chan! This is Sasuke, Kiba, Gaara, Hinata and Karin! There's a couple more but they're not here right now." After the introductions the group fell into a little conversation with Kiba leading it.

"So Sakura, what's up with you and the Akatsuki." Kiba inquired, and the rest of the group turned to watch her.

"Well, Pein is my brother so…" not really knowing what to say, Sakura smiled bashfully and gave a little shrug.

"Oh… we all saw the fight yesterday and how they all jumped in, so I thought you were maybe dating on of them? Speaking of dating, which of them do you think is the hottest?" Karin leaned in with a love stricken look on her face.

Sakura smiled slyly before eyeing Naruto and saying, "Deidara is the hottest in my opinion."

"Ewww, no Sakura-chan that's my brother."

"I think Itachi-kun is fab." Sasuke gave Karin a chilling look after she said this and rolled his eyes in irritation. They continued to bicker until the bell went and it was time for Sakura to make her way to art.

The Art block was all the way on the other side of the school, the corridors became empty quickly, leaving Sakura to wonder the halls with little disturbance to the peace. However this peace was interrupted with Deidara running up to her with a little smile on his face.

"Hey Sakura," his eye were intense as he scanned her face slowly.

"Oh Deidara, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to give you this, I heard you liked art too." In his palms was a pained clay model of a mockingbird, the detail was immense and the colours were an explosive of different bright reds, blue and greens. The miniature figurine was obviously sculpted with such care and delicacy, she could tell that he had really put a lot into it.

"Thank you, it's… _perfect_."

Looking into his eyes, Sakura could see how brightly his eyes shone after her compliment. Without any warning he bent his head and kissed her softly on the cheek before smiling at her and walking off. If she wasn't sure before it was obvious now, Deidara liked her. This realization made a feel giddy inside and she pressed a hand to her cheek gingerly before smiling to herself in excitement.

* * *

**New Chapter, sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoy it guys.**  
**Also, pairings guys? Right now I'm leaning toward DeixSak but I'm open to more options so I've made a poll. Check it out!**

**R&amp;R. Much love.**


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